


A Colorful Bloom

by Quinn_Coveswena



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/F, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Other, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-28 09:44:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17785076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quinn_Coveswena/pseuds/Quinn_Coveswena
Summary: Every week Alec delivers fresh flowers to his sister's office. When he discovers that his old high school crush will be getting is own office there he begins leaving flowers for him as well.





	A Colorful Bloom

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot stemmed from a "Send me a title and I'll come up with a story that fits" prompt I posted on Twitter. @Melodysbane (AO3: Midyearmidnight) came up with the title and @coffeemundane, and @iknowsurefire (AO3: @iwillstayalive) helped give me some plot idea.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it. Happy Valentine's Day, my lovelies <3

It all began one morning in the first week of November. Alec Lightwood had dropped by The Lightwood Fashion Institute (The Institute for short) to make his weekly delivery to his sister’s office. Isabelle Lightwood had quickly become one of New York City’s top fashion designers almost overnight, and the Lightwood Fashion label was proudly worn by all manner of celebrities and socialites across the world. Given the nature of her career, Izzy knew the importance of aesthetics, so she had arranged with the eldest Lightwood for his flower shop, Colorful Bloom, to deliver several full floral arrangements and one smaller bouquet of fresh flowers every two weeks.  The bouquet Izzy kept for her office.

 

Normally, Alec would have Simon or one of his other part-time van drivers deliver such orders, but given that they were for his sister Alec like to deliver them in-person himself. Izzy was so busy all the time that sometimes these deliveries were the only time he got to see her during the week. It was also nice to see his brother, Jace, who worked as the head of security at the company. There had only been one time, right when The Institute had finally secured its place at the top, where military training met the righteous fury of a protective big brother was unleashed upon someone attempting to hurt their little sister. Needless to say, the man sent by the rival Belcourt company, had nearly left in a body bag. 

 

And while Robert Lightwood would have ideally liked his eldest son to go into something similarly masculine, Alec Lightwood decided to put his own eye for color and detail and his green thumb towards the floral business.

 

Stopping to chat with Jace at the security desk for a moment, Alec wheeled his green delivery cart over to the elevator and hit the button for his first stop. The top two floors of the building held the higher-ups' offices, conference rooms, and V.I.P lounge. The third from the top was where the majority of the rest of the employee and main intern offices were. The rest of the building contained showrooms and storage and studios and any of a number of things that went into making The Institute the top-notch company that it was. One arrangement went on display in the central hub of the building, another went in the main conference room, and so on for the major foot traffic areas where important clientele and investors might see them. Alec was thankful that most of the time some intern or secretary would usually take the pieces from him as he arrived on each floor so that he didn’t have to spend too long searching for where they each needed to go.

 

Making his way up to the top floor, Alec dropped off the last of the seasonal arrangements. All he had left was the bouquet for Izzy now. Walking over to her office, flowers in hand, Alec saw through the glass front wall into her office that she was busy talking to someone. The door was closed, which meant Izzy was dealing with something vitally important, and he knew better than to interrupt for something as trivial as flowers.  

 

Just his luck, his quazi-friend and future sister-in-law, Clary, happened to be waiting to see Isabelle as well. She had been a part of Izzy’s team from the very beginning and played an integral part in getting the business to where it was today. Though she be but little and more than a bit naive at times, the fiery redhead was fierce, headstrong, and stubborn to a fault. Alec had found it irritating in the past when he had been helping Izzy with the start-up process of running your own business, but apparently, his sister found that all kinds of attractive. So much so that Alec would be providing the flowers at their wedding this springs.

 

Alec and Clary chatted idly for a while until they heard the click of Isabelle’s office door opening. The sound of a deep, hearty laugh escaped from behind the sound-proof walls, and Alec looked over to see perhaps the most gorgeous man he’d ever laid eyes on with his head thrown back in laughter from something Izzy had just said. Coming to The Institute as regularly as he did, Alec often ran into some attractive men, running the gambit of jobs from model to sales reps, and had even wined and dined with a few of them. But all of them paled in comparison to  _ him _ . 

 

The man and Izzy stopped to talk for another moment outside the door, and Alec, totally not creeping on them, went into a mild gay-panic, not knowing what to appreciate about the man first. He was Asian or of Asian-decent, and had a warm glow to his skin. His hair was style high to the sky in a mohawk, and even from where he stood Alec could see the expertly done makeup on his face. His gaze flickered over to the ear cuff that glinted underneath the bright white office lighting. Finally, Alec allowed himself to take in the mystery man’s outfit and oh boy. He wore what looked like an expensive, high-quality dark grey business suit, but instead of a traditional jacket, the man wore a deep crimson velvet one with an embroidered floral pattern of red roses and lilies with a matching pair of red shoes. Alec might not have an eye for fashion, but he did have an eye for flowers, and a part of him wanted to get closer just to determine whether or not the designer had used a Stargazer, Madonna, or Easter lily in the print.

 

Alec had just enough time to stop staring before Izzy caught him staring after she and the man kissed each other on the cheek and parted ways. However, he did watch as the man made his way over to the elevator, and damn, those pants were A LOT tighter than they first appeared. Begrudgingly tearing his gaze away from the beautiful sight, Alec looked down to see Clary and Isabelle, who had joined them at some point in the fifteen seconds he wasn’t looking, giving him amused, knowing looks.

 

“Welcome back,” Clary said, fighting back a shit-eating grin. “Glad you could join us.”

 

Alec felt his face start to flush.

 

“He’s hot, isn’t he?” Izzy teased. “Magnus Bane: head of Pandemonium and stylist to the stars.”

 

Magnus Bane. That name was painfully familiar to Alec from when he’d had the most intense crush of his life in high school. Back then, Alec had still been in the closet, and while he suspected that the object of his affections might share in his proclivities for the male sex, he had no way of knowing short of springing the question on the other boy and outing himself in the process.

 

But it couldn’t be the same guy, could it?

 

As if reading his thoughts, Izzy smiled an impish grin and nodded slowly. “Oh yes. THAT Magnus Bane. Lightwood Fabrics and Pandemonium are going to be going into business together, so Magnus is going to be here quite a bit over the next few months. He has an office and everything. I suppose that means you’ll be seeing him quite regularly as well.” 

 

Alec’s face turned as red as Magnus’s jacket while his sister and Clary laughed at his expense.

 

During his delivery the next week, Alec saw that the previously empty office on his sister’s floor was definitely in the process of being moved into. Already someone had written Magnus Bane in sophisticated swirling cursive letters on the door. Deciding to be much, much braver than he could have ever dreamt of back in his repressed teenage years, Alec plucked a white rose from his Izzy’s bouquet and left it on Magnus’s desk. He had no way of knowing if Magnus was actually there or not. In all likelihood, The Institute or Pandemonium had hired someone to set up the office for Magnus, and the other man wouldn’t even be in until the new year. But Alec left the flower anyway, just in case.

 

After exiting Magnus’s new office to go find his sister, Alec nearly tripped over Clary. He opened his mouth to apologize, ready to give some stupid excuse like he didn’t see her because of the size of the flowers, but snapped it shut immediately when he saw the Cheshire grin on her face. Her eyes flicked over to the side for a second and Alec followed her gaze over to where Magnus and a man with a British accent Alec had never seen before were just exiting a conference room. 

 

Alec only had a second to act before he was caught in the act. He quickly shoved the bouquet of flowers into Clary’s hands and hissed “Not a word, Fray,” before scrambling off to find his cart.

 

Over the next few weeks, whenever Alec made a delivery, he always left a flower of some kind—primarily roses—on Magnus’s desk. He hoped that the gesture was coming off in a sweet, secret admirer sort of way, and not a creepy stalker-ish one. That would be just his luck. His sister assured him otherwise (because apparently, Clarissa Fray was physically incapable of keeping a secret longer than a few days), and teased him mercilessly over his rekindled crush. Even Jace had taken to shooting Alec looks as he passed by the security desk and trying to high-five him, making it abundantly clear that he was in on the joke as well.

 

However, by the third week in January, his siblings’ and future sister-in-law’s playful, teasing attitudes had shifted to frustration and aggravation. They didn’t understand why Alec didn’t just ask Magnus out already, especially after Alec began leaving little notes with the flowers and receiving ones back. Now whenever Alec went to deposit a rose or a carnation or a tulip on Magnus’s desk, he found a tiny note message waiting for him. Most of the time they were corny pick-up lines or jokes, but other times they were a tiny sketch Magnus had mad during a boring meeting or a song suggestion. Alec’s notes included similar suggestions for music and books, but sometimes he included little bits of information about the flower he was leaving behind ( _ Did you know that tulips were originally introduced to Holland from Turkey? _ ). And even though Alec got bold enough to start including compliments in these notes, he still didn’t feel as though he was brave enough to ask Magnus out on a date, much less say such things face to face. 

 

But after he started subtly testing out leaving such compliments as “ _ Your laugh is the happiest sound to grace human ears,”  _ Alec noticed that whenever bumped into Magnus on days he was just popping by to get lunch with his sister or Jace, that Magnus was quite...flirty with him. Alec remembered this trait of Magnus’s from back in school, so he was hesitant to take it too seriously, but a part of him hoped that it was genuine.

 

Magnus’s flirtations only served to make Izzy fed up even further with her brother for not acting on his feelings. She knew that Magnus knew who was leaving behind the weekly flowers, and Alec had a pretty good idea that Magnus knew as well. He was a fool in love, not a moron. And he kind of liked the sweetness of it all. 

 

Finally, because Izzy, Jace, and Clary had now roped Simon and Maia into the situation and he had to hear about what an idiot he was at work now as well, Alec finally relented his apprehensions and decided to ask Magnus Bane out once and for all. But he felt that given that everything up until that point had been about small gestures, that he ought to make some kind of grand one for the occasion. Alec Lightwood might resemble a grumpy cat sometimes, but he was a big softie at heart.

 

That’s why on the one day of the year his flower shop would be absolutely swamped, and he really shouldn’t be missing work, Alec decided to confess his feelings and ask Magnus to be his Valentine. Honestly, his siblings and close companions would have his head if he didn’t follow through with this plan. They told him as much. Repeatedly.

 

With help from Izzy, Jace, Clary, Simon, and Maia getting the whole scene situated (they had insisted so that Alec had no room to chicken out at the last second), Alec filled Magnus’s office with bouquets of red roses. He even laid rose petals out across the floor. Sticking with the rose-theme, Alec had set it up so that Daniela Andrade's cover of “La Vie En Rose” would be playing when Magnus arrived in his office.

 

When the time came, and Magnus found the surprise Alec had left for him, Alec’s heart (which had been racing as fast as his mind) soared in triumph and swelled with affection as he watched the man’s reaction. He had been watching from crouched behind the floor secretary's desk with Clary, and he kept poking him in the ribs and smiling at him. Looking over at his sister’s office, he saw her standing by the glass watching Magnus as well. She must have felt Alec’s eyes on her because she turned to look back at him with a proud look on her face and gave him a thumbs up.

 

“Go get your man!” Clary hissed excitedly in his ear.    

 

Knowing better than to argue, Alec lept up and stumbled his way over to Magnus. He had been so busy getting everything ready that he hadn’t thought about what he was actually going to 

Say. His thoughts went quiet though when he got close enough to see that Magnus had tears in his eyes. 

 

“H-hi,” Alec stuttered out, face blushing and feeling like he was walking on air.

 

“Alexander,” Magnus let out in a tender voice. Oh, did his name on the lips and tongue of Magnus Bane made Alec shiver and swoon.

 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Magnus.”

 

Magnus gave Alec heart eyes memes, and emojis could only dream of for a few more moments before he began repeatedly sneezing and wheezing slightly.

 

That was how Alec had ended up taking Magnus to the emergency room. Now he sat next to the other man’s hospital bed while the doctors stuck an IV in his arm and said they wanted to hold Magnus for observation for the next several hours.

 

“I seriously can’t believe that you didn’t tell me that you were allergic to roses,” Alec said in an incredulous voice.

 

“It could have been worse,” Magnus replied, waving his hand dismissively. “It could have been scones.” He laughed when Alec gave him an unamused look and added, “Plus I thought that it was incredibly sweet and romantic. And it made you so happy.”

 

Alec couldn’t help but smile at that. Magnus reached his free hand out towards Alec, and Alec happily accepted. The way that their fingers interlocked was almost too perfect.

 

“I guess today didn’t really go as planned, huh?” Magnus asked.

 

Alec shrugged, slightly embarrassed. “It happens. Besides, this is much farther than I’d have gotten in high school, believe me.”

 

Magnus squeezed Alec’s hand a little tighter. “Farther than I would have either,” he admitted sheepishly.

 

They stared at each other, taking in the fact that BOTH of them had had a crush on one another when they were younger, but had been too afraid to pursue it. After a moment they both burst out laughing. 

 

“Wow, we are idiots,” Alec chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief.

 

“Yeah well, we could be something else if you like,” Magnus prompted.

 

Alec raised an eyebrow, wondering where Magnus was going with this. “Like what,” he asked, butterflies starting to flutter in his stomach.

 

“Valentines,” Magnus replied with a smirk. 

 

Alec closed his eyes and threw his head back laughing. Magnus watched grinning from ear to ear.

 

Alec shook his head once more. “Honestly, what am I going to do with you?” he asked. “You’re insufferable.”

 

“Oh, I have some idea of where to start,” Magnus answered before leaning over and caressing Alec’s face. Their gaze held for a few seconds before flicking down to each other’s lips.

 

“I didn’t get to say this back at the office,” Magnus said, watching Alec subconsciously wet his lips, “but Happy Valentine’s Day, Alexander.” 

 

Their gaze held for one moment more before the tension between them broke and they were kissing, lips and lives fitting together like missing puzzle pieces.


End file.
